What’s the word on the Yukon? Wet. Teams had a wintry mix of rain and snow back in Anvik, and the wet snow has continued along with lots of overflow on the trail. An update from Sebastian Schnuelle via his Iditarod Blog “The Armchair Musher” last evening said that some of the Iditarod trailbreakers described the trail from Eagle Island to Kaltag with “20 miles of overflow from Bullfrog Island onwards. Not deep, but lot’s of it.” Yuk. To read the entire article click here.
When we left off yesterday (I feel asleep before I could post an update last night – oops.) Boss Man had taken his eight (8) hour mandatory rest in Anvik (departing at 3/9 @ 06:35), and had gone through Grayling, stopping just long enough to pick up some supplies to camp. From Anvik, through Grayling, Eagle Island and up to Kaltag is a total run of 140 miles. Jeff opted to bypass both checkpoints of Grayling and Eagle Island (just a tent camp), camping along the trail and breaking up that 140 mile stretch into three runs of about 45 miles each. Jeff and the team arrived into Eagle Island last night at 20:35, picked up supplies and headed back out on the trail. He camped for about 6.5 hours from 0:30 until about 07:15 this morning, and is currently heading to Kaltag – 22 miles out.
We did learn that Jeff dropped Rambo back in Anvik. He’s not injured, just tired. He’s a young guy, just 2 years old. The crew was excited he made the team, and we’ll be excited to welcome him home. 🙂
Jeff left Rambo in Anvik.
Once Jeff arrives in Kaltag, we’re not quite sure what his next step will be, but if he’s got lots of wet gear and wants to dry out before heading over to Unalakleet (an 85 mile run) he’ll no doubt stay long enough to make that happen.
Back at the Homestead, the crew has been busy running puppies and getting packed up for Nome. Maren will be heading to Anchorage today for a flight out tomorrow morning. She’ll be there to meet Jeff and the team, and take care of the dogs while Jeff catches up on some sleep. She’ll then fly back to Anchorage with them, and she and Alex will get them home and all cozy long before Jeff makes his way back.
Reuben, Julie and Maren prior to the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage.